A Candle in the Wind: Story on Surviving Bad Childhood

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People have a great deal of resilience, and can withstand a great deal of peer pressure, grief and loss, personal injury, adverse circumstances, and tragedy. Notwithstanding, growing up in a rural area with natural resources including fresh air, rivers, and unclaimed land where the potential exist to develop in the area of agriculture is a blessing when compared to urban areas where crime rate is high.

There one lived a boy who, grew up in a home in a small town. This young boy, named Tosh, had two brothers named Kevin and John. His father, named Larry, a truck driver, and mother, named Samantha, a school teacher, lived together until he began high school; at this time, the Larry left the family home to live in another country, and never to communicate with the Tosh or his brothers again.

Tosh got depressed and his grades fell all throughout the remained of his high school years. As a mother, Samantha was careless and negligent, and would spend all her savings on leisurely spending on her siblings, who were neither unemployed, nor dependent on their own progeny.

Days turned into weeks and months turned in years, and all that was know of Samantha's siblings were that they were poor relatives seeking financial support from her. Things got so bad financial at the family home of Larry and Samantha that the children were sent to beg from the neighbors, and after a while even the local retail shop owners were asked to credit food items. After sometime, both the local retail shop owners and neighbors refused to give any more food or money. The sons grew up malnourished and impoverished, and will low self esteem.

By the time the sons grew to become adults, Samantha's financial decisions got much worse, and now she acted more like an outsider to her own children. Now She was stealing monies from her sons bank account; one of them decided to move out on his own. She would frequently invite strangers, idlers, and freeloaders by the home, and this would make living very uncomfortable, especially considering some were very rude, and others had poor hygiene.

Samantha had no money to send her sons prepare them for tertiary level education. They would spend several years doing simple tasks for money. Eventually she decided to pay for John to do an Associate degree in business. As soon as John completed training, he worked as a clerk, but could not save any money as Samantha would constantly demand monies from him.

Samantha would spend all her personal monies on unneeded furniture, on simple items such as hair products, and on shoes.

Considering that Tosh had no funding to study at the tertiary level, he read books at the local library, and learned to play a musical instrument. Later on he became masterful at the instrument that he taught classes at his local denomination. He worked several part time jobs as well. An associate at one of his previous jobs decided to sponsor his educational goals and paid for him to pursue a three year diploma in teaching. Tosh managed the programme, completed his studies and went on to become a school teacher, after which her moved out on his own.

Tosh soon realized that his mother was not only spending recklessly but gave handsomely to charitable organizations, and even closed her insurance policy in order to get the funds to spend. Tosh visited Samantha, his mother, at her home and pleaded with her to give up her spending habits, but all to no avail. Tosh tried to guide her towards owning important assets, starting her own business, and even moving towards achieving a higher level of education. However, Samantha was not impressed.

Samantha continued on her path on wasteful spending until retirement, and since then, has been deserted by those freeloaders she kept around her. None of them visits her, none remembers her, none supports her. Now her health is failing, and her required a healthier diet, and routine exercise along with medication. But at this time, the funds needed to achieve better health are all spent and now she lives in regret.

So it is with many parents who never grow up until it is too late.

Both John and Tosh are high school teachers, with master's degrees, spouses and children, and their own home. They strive never to fall into the sort of problems, their mother Samantha did. Kevin, is a mechanic, and is unwed. John, Kevin and Tosh set social boundaries, as no relative is allow to make financial demands on them. They will not succumb to peer pressure from relatives.

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